Crossing the Line
by Sydney Daimao
Summary: After Stan's plan for a prank to get revenge on Rosalyn during a reunion party results in her hero status being ruined, Rosalyn must figure out how to cope. But it's not easy when she's now Stan's live in maid, AND the target of a new mysterious foe! R&R!
1. I: Plotting for a Party

Disclaimer: I do not own Okage Shadow King characters or storyline; I just own the PS2 game.

Author's Notes: Well this is the first chapter of my newest fanfic, Crossing the Line, and I'd like to apologize to my readers for not updating one of my other fics before I put this one up, but I wanted to start on this while the story of Okage was fresh in my mind. I hope you all enjoy this, because I wanted to do a story that other fans like myself would want to read. And if there are any grammatical errors, type-os, or spelling mistakes, could you please tell me WHERE they are so I correct the errors. I appreciate praise as well as constructive criticism, but I can't fix my mistakes if I don't know where they are. XD

This fanfic tends to have a lot of genres in it, such as the Action/Adventure, Mystery and Comedy we all know and love from the game, as well as some slight Angst/Drama in future chapters, and of course, Romance. The main pairing is Stan/Rosalyn, with subplots involving Ari/Marlene, and Epros/Linda. Please enjoy chapter one of Crossing the Line:D

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Crossing the Line

By Sydney Daimao

**Chapter One: Plotting for a Party**

It was another ordinary day in the peaceful and provincial town of Tenel. Townspeople were tending their usual business, standing around loitering, or spreading new gossip they had heard. It was also another ordinary day for the boy, Ari, who was sent by his mother on another errand. However, there was something, or more like someone, that made the errand a little more interesting.

"C'mon slave!" barked the ornery Evil King that possessed Ari's shadow. "Hurry with this lame errand! I said hurry, not walk slower! Ugh, you are such an incompetent slave, I swear! I don't know why I put up with you. At this rate, the day of my evil reign will be delayed for another three hundred years!"

Ari, quiet as usual, wondered why Stan was complaining so much lately. Perhaps it was because it had been over a year since he and the Evil King defeated Belioune at the World Library, and Stan had yet to come up with a good enough plan to rule the world. Whenever Ari had tried to ask him about it, Stan would always tell him that it was too soon to start a hostile take over after all the business with the fake Evil Kings had yet to die down. He claimed he wanted everyone to think that there would be peace for a long time, and then suddenly surprise them with his "evil master plan for world domination".

"Slave? Slave! Are you tuning me out?" he heard Stan shout in his ear.

Rolling his eyes, Ari turned to meet with the large yellow eyes of Stan's shadow form. "How come you're in my shadow again? I thought you could travel just fine now that you have your powers back."

This remark earned him a mean glare from the shadow. "How dare you get cheeky with me! You know darn well that if everyone saw me walking around in my human form it would lose its effect on people. Did you learn none of my ingeniously devious ways of thinking on our adventures?"

Ari thought to himself how Stan managed to yet again avoid answering the real question. "But you can travel around in your shadow form without using my shadow too."

Clearly the questioning only served to make Stan more frustrated, as he began to throw his arms around in the same way he always did when he ranted. "You know, I have not liked this new little attitude you've acquired since you turned seventeen, slave. Give me just one more piece of your teenage angst lip, and see what happens!"

The boy remained silent to appease the demanding king, and settled on the possibility that Stan was just lazy, and didn't want to actually do the short distance traveling himself.

At first Ari enjoyed Stan's frequent visits to his house, but lately his short temper was beginning to get to him. After the journey, Ari decided not to keep all of his thoughts to himself anymore, since that caused him to almost vanish completely. He found that speaking his mind was actually quite therapeutic at times. However, when dealing with a man who had low tolerance for disrespect, he found himself on the bad end of Stan's annoying insults. Luckily, Stan was appeased by Ari's silence, and the boy continued carrying the item his mother had sent him to bring back home. Usually she'd send him out on bread-fetching errands, but this time, he had to bring home a box from the bakery. He wondered what was in the box after the baker woman, and his mother both told him specifically not to look inside. It couldn't have been a birthday cake, since his birthday already passed a few months ago.

Stan muttered incoherent things under his breath while Ari walked home. It truly was infuriating to have him question him so much about why he did certain things. The boy might as well just rub it in his face that he had nothing else better to do than mooch off of his shadow, and participate in his daily life. It was true that he couldn't think of anything more fun than to pop up when Ari wasn't expecting him and verbally abuse him. After all, insulting James was not much fun, since he would probably agree to what he said about him. The only other person he could vent out his frustrations on was Ari. Well, maybe there was one other person; that washbowl woman, Rosalyn. However, Stan had yet to see the pink parasol-carrying hero since the showdown at the World Library.

As his thoughts of how long ago that was came into his mind, Stan broke the silence between him and the boy, and asked, "Hey, slave. Has big thighs come around your place lately?"

Ari already knew who he was talking about, and shook his head as he began to climb up the stone steps that lead to his home. "No, not since that last time she came to Tenel looking for you, and you weren't around. You know she still wants you to change her shadow back to normal."

Stan gave his deep trademark chuckle, "Oh I'm sure she is. You know, I purposely left before she could remember about that promise I made to her to change it back after I regained my powers. Ha ha! Stupid woman! I bet you all this time all she's been doing is trying to find _moi_!"

"There you are you stupid Evil King!" a familiar female voice shouted out, causing both of them to turn their attention to the person who was stalking towards them. It was none other than the comic-relief hero, Rosalyn. "I finally caught up to you, you lying jerk! I demand you change my shadow back! You can't hide behind Ari forever!"

"Damn, speak of the cow," Stan muttered lowly so only Ari could hear him. Speaking louder now to Rosalyn, he then replied, "Well fat ass, you're right for once. And I'd love to stay and chat, but I have better things to do than to listen to you moo!" Before Rosalyn could respond to his insults, Stan's shadow form began to assimilate into the ground, and by the time she caught up to Ari, he had already gotten away.

The hero was panting from all her shouting, looking very displeased that she had been so close to catching Stan. Growling, she then stomped her foot and shouted, "COWARD! You stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid FAKE EVIL KING! You're too afraid to even face me!"

Ari, ignored as usual, chose now to speak up, "Hey Rosalyn, when'd you get here?"

Embarrassed, Rosalyn straightened herself up a little, and tried to calm down. "Oh, I got here a few minutes ago. Your mother told me that you went out on an errand, so I decided to wait here for you. Then I saw that…idiot…why is he still possessing your shadow?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Ari replied dryly, as he and the older woman began to walk towards the front door.

"Probably has nothing else better to do than to bother you," she assumed with a bitter tone.

Ari only shrugged, and opened the door to his house, with Rosalyn following behind him. "You staying for awhile? Or were you just looking for Stan?" He didn't know why he asked her that, it was kind of stupid. She never stayed longer than to say a quick hello and to inquire about her arch nemesis.

Rosalyn sighed, "Well, I was going to try and track down that bastard, but I'm kind of tired. Besides, we haven't really had time to catch up, huh?"

After placing the box in the kitchen and greeting his mother, Ari and Rosalyn then took a seat at the kitchen table, and she began to tell Ari all about her quest to find the Evil King Stan. She swore that she questioned almost everyone she could get to talk to her about Stan's whereabouts, but nobody knew where he was. Glaring at the bottle that once held Stan prisoner, Rosalyn growled softly, "Wish someone could just stick him back into that bottle again, and this time, make sure he never comes out!"

Ari made no comment about it, since he knew that Rosalyn had a reason to be angry with Stan, and he couldn't think of a reason to come to the devious shadow king's defense. His mother then interrupted the conversation, much to his relief, "Ari, could you go bring Annie home? It's almost dinner time, and you know how popular she is with the boys." Her son nodded, and set out to find his little sister. When they heard the door close behind him, Ari's mother waited a few moments before she turned to look at Rosalyn. "Think he knows?"

"No," replied the hero with a confident smile, "not a chance!"

"Good," Ari's mother sighed in relief. "I was afraid he might become suspicious when I had him bring home the cake. I would have had Annie bring it over, but I forgot to tell her before she left."

The voice of Stan soon surrounded the kitchen, as he asked, "Just what exactly are you two plotting against my slave?" He then appeared in the room by floating up from the wooden floor, still in his shadow form, with his ever-present grin. "And why have I been left out of it?"

Rosalyn glowered at Stan; while Ari's mother gave him the same smile she gave to everyone. "Oh Stanley, I was wondering if you'd be here for dinner again."

Before anything else could be said, Rosalyn stood up and without warning plunged her rapier's blade into the shadow. Stan blinked, and muttered dryly, "Guess it's a good thing I didn't change my form." Looking down at the sword that was impaled in his dark body, he noted to himself that if he had been in a solid form, she would have pierced one of his major organs. "I didn't think you'd be so forgetful, hero, that you can't hurt me while I'm a shadow."

"Well it makes me feel better!" she retorted, refusing to remove her blade.

"To answer your question," Ari's mother spoke up again, trying to defuse the tension in the room. "Since it's been so long since Ari and all his friends have been over, we decided to host a reunion party for everyone!"

"Reunion?" Stan repeated quizzically. "Why would I want to see all those fools again? I don't need them anymore."

Rosalyn decided it was rather silly to keep her sword in a shadow's body, and placed it back to her side. "The party's not for you, stupid. It's for Ari."

"Look who's talking!" Stan barked back, "You're the stupid one! Trying to kill shadows, you lame hero."

Ari's mother sighed, and gave up on trying to stop the two of them from fighting. Ari told her before about how much the two squabbled, but she just couldn't imagine it. They were even worse than her children when they were little. Half of the insults they threw at each other were silly, and repetitive. They argued until Ari returned home with Annie.

The girl brightened up when she saw Rosalyn. "Ohmigod! Rosalyn! When'd you get here?" She ran over to the older woman that she looked up to, and wrapped her arms around her torso. Instantly, the hero forgot all about her argument with Stan, as Annie pulled her towards the hallway to go to her room and gossip.

Stan was a little insulted that she so easily ignored him, especially since Ari's sister interrupted him before he could get the last word. "Feh, glad she's gone." Turning to the boy, he then commanded, "Slave, let's go to your room." Ari replied with walking out of the kitchen to his room, with the shadow following.

As soon as the door closed behind the two, Stan felt it was safe enough to change his into his human form. It was strange that he would prefer to be in his shadow form to his actual form, but it was much easier to move around as a shadow. Also, like he told Ari before, it would make more of an impact on others when they saw him as a human so rarely. He already lost the intimidation his shadow use to bring. The only ones who saw him as he really was on a slightly frequent basis were Ari and his family.

Stan plopped on Ari's bed and laid on it as if it were now his own; the boy didn't complain because he was use to this temporary take over whenever Stan visited. "Don't ever leave me alone with that woman again slave. I can't stand her. All she does is go on and on about how it's not fair that I won't change her shadow's color back."

The boy picked up a deck of cards from his dresser, and began to shuffle them. He suppressed the urge to inform him that he didn't really leave him alone with Rosalyn. "Well if it's really that annoying, why don't you just change it back? Then she can leave you alone."

Sitting up dramatically on the bed, the Evil King replied, "You really are the most incompetent slave ever! If I did that, then I would have given into her demands! And Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XVI will never give into some washbowl woman's demands! It's unthinkable! Improbable! Damnable! What kind of Evil King would I be if…"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ari groaned and added, "I'm sorry I asked. Really…"

"Well, you should be!" Stan said in a huff, as he folded his arms over his chest.

After he shuffled the cards, Ari turned to Stan and asked, "Bullshit?"

Knowing that he meant the game, he replied with his grin returning, "Well of course! What other game would we play?"

Neither of them were sure how it got started, but after Stan's visits became expected, the two began a tradition of playing Bullshit before dinner. It was the one card game they both knew how to play. Sometimes Stan would even get Ari to make small bets with him, just to make the game more interesting. Most of the time Stan would win, but only because Ari couldn't be too sure when Stan was bluffing or not. He would always grin throughout the game to throw him off. At first he figured he'd grin more when he was bluffing, but when he guessed wrong twice, Ari decided he'd no longer try to call bullshit on him unless he was positive that he couldn't have the cards he claimed to put down.

After a few minutes into their first game, Annie walked into Ari's room, without knocking. "Ari, you're okay with Rosalyn spending the night in your room right? You can sleep on the floor in Grandma and Grandpa's room, can't you?" The boy only sighed as his little sister showered him with questions that made his existence seem insignificant. She was rather good at that.

"Oh, I don't want to impose," Rosalyn spoke up in a sheepish tone of voice, not wanting to put Ari out of his own room. "I can always stay at an…" she trailed off when she noticed Stan sitting on Ari's bed with a handful of cards. Their eyes met for a moment, and the hero realized that this was the second time she ever saw Stan's true form. When Belioune used all the power of classification of the two of them in an attempt to have them kill each other, she had been too distracted to really pay much attention to the human Stan. It was strange, since she always thought of him as the silly looking shadow that talked big, but couldn't back up his words with much. Stan returned her gaze with a scowl, to show that she wasn't welcome in his presence.

Annie's voice broke her thoughts when she noticed that they were playing cards. "Ooh, are you guys playing that one game where you shout out that cuss word? Let's all play! It's more fun when it's more than two people."

Ari glanced Stan's way, and could tell by the look he was shooting Rosalyn what his answer was. Before either one of them could get a chance to object though, Annie snatched up the deck and extended her hand to each of the guys to retrieve their cards. Both reluctantly handed their hands over, and Annie began to shuffle through the cards quickly.

Rosalyn almost hesitantly entered the room, and decided to sit between the two siblings, so that she and Stan could have as much space between them as possible. The hero felt uncomfortable with the Evil King present at the card game. It was just too weird for her. An Evil King, playing cards with a hero? It just wasn't the natural thing to do. Then again, Rosalyn fought for her right to rebel against the "classification", so she might as well enjoy the benefits. Besides, this could give her a chance to show that fool up at something.

"You know, I bet Epros would be good at cards," Ari commented after all the cards were dealt. "Since he used them with his magic tricks."

A smile crossed Rosalyn's face for a moment, as she thought about how they would be seeing the former Phantom Evil King, and all the others soon enough. "Yeah, but I wonder if he'd be the type who tries to cheat." She then added, "You know I heard he works at the Circus now. You know, the one where the Former Sewer Evil King decided to work?"

While Ari and Rosalyn engaged in the boring conversation, Stan kept his eyes on his cards, and only adverted his gaze when it was his turn. Just listening to Rosalyn talk was annoying, and especially when she was distracting his slave. How dare she interrupt the time they were having before she and Ari's little sister barged in? It was rude, and he would not stand for it usually, but since this was Ari's house, and since Ari didn't want to tell his sister to buzz off, he'd have to put up with it. If he had known that Rosalyn would end up being involved in their game, he would have stayed in his shadow form. After all, he wanted to intimidate his archenemy the most.

After Rosalyn informed Ari about Linda still following Epros around, the two began to laugh, and Annie won the first round of Bullshit not too long afterwards. Stan grunted, and threw his handful of cards into the pile along with the others so that they could be shuffled again for the second game. Rosalyn took the time now to steal another glance at the human Stan, after noticing his mood change. His eyes were the same color as hers, something she didn't realize the first time she saw him, but that was probably a well-suited color for him. However, when she noticed his hair she was surprised that of all the colors it could have been it would be a fiery red with some blonde highlights. When she had tried to think of how he'd look as a human, his hair was black, since she was so use to seeing him as a black translucent shadow. What probably caught her the most off guard was his large pointed ears and tan skin. Then again, the ears shouldn't have surprised her, since evil beings were usually pointed.

Before she could think about his appearance anymore than she already had, she heard her name being called. "Hey, Rosalyn! It's your turn!" Annie whined next to her. Apparently she had been tuning out the others for longer than she thought.

Her cheeks soon became hot when she realized Stan was no longer sporting the frown he had on a minute ago. It was now replaced with a cocky smile. "Like what you see?" he questioned with his eyes squinting slightly in amusement. "Not that I'd blame you for wanting to stare. You didn't exactly get the chance to soak in my true glory last year."

Rosalyn was embarrassed that she had been staring for longer than she thought, and that Stan realized she had been studying him at all. She tried to ignore the burning sensation on her cheeks as she placed her card down. "You're right, I didn't get a chance to see how you really looked like." She then looked back at him, and noticed that his arrogant grin grew with her reply. Her own grin spread across her face as she added, "But now I can come to the conclusion that you really do look more stupid in person than you do when you're a shadow." A feeling of Triumph overtook the hero when Stan looked taken aback, then outraged by her statement. Perhaps this was the first time someone thought he looked anything but handsome, or at least the first time someone admitted it to his face.

"Well obviously you like my 'stupid' face, otherwise you wouldn't have been staring at it for so long!" he retorted after growling at her.

A soft chuckle escaped Rosalyn, as she realized now the tables had turned. He had teased her about her more filled out thighs for so long, she wanted to see if he could take what he dished out. "It's not that I like it. It's just, you know, one of those things where it's so weird looking you just have to keep looking at it. Like a train wreck."

"Shut up thunder thighs!" Stan yelled back defensively. "The sound of your fat legs scraping together when you run is enough to cause a train wreck!"

Ari sighed, and placed down three cards, wondering how long it would take for dinner to be ready.

It wouldn't be for another half hour till Ari's mother called everyone down to dinner, and their second game of Bullshit never had its winner, since Rosalyn and Stan's argument took their full attention. Annie was the first to jump up from the ground first, "Yes! I'm starving! I wonder if we're having stew or steak."

After the energetic young girl raced out of Ari's room, Rosalyn was the next to stand up to head downstairs. This time, Stan happened to get in the last remark before dinner was announced, but Rosalyn still had one more thing to say to the Evil King before she left. "Well, I know that you're a washed up, idiotic, Evil King, but what am I?"

To this, Stan replied almost instantly, "You're a lousy, wanna-be hero, with a fat butt, who's so desperate that she is flattered by any compliment given by the opposite gender!"

Before Rosalyn could continue the argument, Ari spoke up, in a tone that sounded flat. "Could you two stop fighting like a couple of toddlers long enough to get through dinner at least?" The boy couldn't help but flinch when the both of them turned sharply to glare at him now.

"What was that you just said, slave?" Stan questioned with a softer tone of voice than Ari expected him to use, but his narrowed eyes gave a hint that he was angrier than his voice expressed.

With a sigh, Ari moved past his two old traveling companions and began his decent down the hallway at a slow pace. "I just have a headache, that's all," he responded with a hopeless sigh.

Rosalyn was not use to seeing Ari that apathetic before, and dropped her prepared insult to ask instead, "What's wrong with him?"

Stan merely scoffed, pushing past the hero to follow Ari. "How the hell should I know? Maybe he's just tired of hearing your annoying voice."

Rosalyn opened her mouth to make her comeback, but then decided against it. Whatever was wrong with Ari, arguing with Stan wouldn't help make him feel better. She waited a few moments in the bedroom before she decided to head downstairs for dinner, whispering words of encouragement to herself. "You can do this Rosalyn. You can get along with Stan through dinner. It's just dinner. Just ignore the bastard, and don't take any of his bait, and you'll be fine."

Once she entered the kitchen, everyone else was already seated, with the exception of Ari's Mother, and the real Marlene, who were setting down large plates of food on the table. Her pale gold eyes scanned over everyone present to see where she should sit. However, her choice was limited as she stepped forward, when Ari's mother took her place at the table, as well as Marlene, leaving only one seat free. The seat across from where Stan was. Rosalyn bit her lower lip to keep herself from groaning out loud from her rotten luck.

As she sat down to the table, Ari's father turned to Annie, who sat at his left side and asked her to say grace. Annie loudly shouted "GRACE!" before she stabbed a strip of beef from the large plate in front of her. This caused the group to chuckle, and they too began to fill their plates, and pass around platters. Again, Rosalyn found herself in a strange situation that involved seeing Stan and herself participate in a civil activity. Needless to say anyone would have found it intriguing to witness the Evil King passing the bowl of mashed potatoes down the dinner table.

After everyone seemed to have piled on as much food as they wished to dine on for their first helpings, Ari's mother began the dinner table discussion. "So Marlene, how was it at the bakery today?"

The girl with large red eyes smiled sincerely, "It was a lot of fun. Today we baked seven loafs of bread, a dozen muffins, and a cherry pie." Glancing towards Ari, who was sitting on her left, she smiled even more. "I heard Ari came by today too, but I missed him because I was cleaning in the storage room."

"Sounds like you had fun today," Ari's mother stated with a smile.

"Ari," Marlene began, placing her hand over the boy's to get his attention. "Don't forget tomorrow morning we go for our picnic in our special place." Nobody but the two young couple knew where their "special place" was. It happened to be the area where Marlene had searched for the flower she wanted to give Ari's mother after she first taught her how to cook.

The boy nodded, and then placed a fork full of green bean casserole into his mouth. The princess understood his acknowledgement, and then proceeded with her own food consumption.

"Morning picnics," Ari's grandfather began with a reminiscent tone in his voice. "Wowie, I remember doing that with your grandma. Isn't that right dear?"

Ari's grandmother nodded and replied with the same words she usually did, "Uh huh, uh huh, that's right dear."

Stan rolled his eyes after hearing the predictable grandmother's reply. The one thing he didn't like about his visits to Ari's house was the small talk the family felt compelled to have during each meal gathering. It was always the same questions, and the same compliments on whatever dish was served.

Then an unexpected question came from the lips of Ari's grandmother. "So Rosalyn, what have you been doing all this time after the journey you had with Stan and Ari?"

Rosalyn had just picked up her cup to take a drink of water before she was asked the question. "Well, I did some traveling around the world," glaring in front of her at Stan, she then added, "and trying to find a certain someone who has yet to fulfill a promise he made."

"Oh yes, that's right. I remember Ari talking about that," Ari's grandfather commented. "Wasn't it Stan you were looking for all this time?"

Rosalyn nodded, as she took a drink from her glass when Ari's grandmother asked Stan, "Just what kind of promise did you make to her, that would have her run all around the world for you?"

Stan waited until he knew Rosalyn would be taking a long drink before he answered the old woman. "I'm not sure, but I think she's still under the delusion that I promised to marry her." Suddenly water sprayed from the hero's mouth, and she began to cough hard into her closed fist. Stan grinned at this response; it was priceless to see how much wider her eyes got. He couldn't help but add after she regained her breath, "But I'm afraid I must make this point clear to her, that I'm a purely evil, Evil King. And as flattering as her want for me is, I cannot be romantically involved with a hero. It's just not meant to be Rosalyn. I'm sorry, it's not me, it's you."

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Ari's mother asked Rosalyn in concern, while Ari covered his mouth, dreading what Rosalyn would say next.

The hero gave Stan the most heated stare she could muster in that moment, before she slammed her hands on the table, and stood up. "Purely evil, Evil King? Ha! Yeah right! What a load!" Rosalyn shouted, causing everyone in the room to pay attention to her. "You know why I think it was so hard to find you for over a year Stan? It's because you don't ever DO ANYTHING EVIL! You just go around throwing your title everywhere. 'I'm the Great Evil King! I'm going to take over the world!' you say constantly, but I have yet to see you actually do something that even gets you closer to that goal! I know I say I'm a hero just as often as you say your own title, but at least I prove it with actions! And I gotta tell you Stan, actions speak louder than even the most confident sounding words. So I'm sure everyone else can understand why it was so hard for me to find a lame, wanna-be evil, weird looking, and stupid man like you! And I want you to change my shadow back tonight so I'll never have to look at your ugly face again, or be reminded that you ruined my life whenever I have to use this stupid parasol to hide my shame of ever letting you possess my shadow because I let my curiosity get the better of me!"

After Rosalyn ceased her yelling, the room fell into an awkward silence. Many sat there wide eyed, and Ari had a look that showed he wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. Even Stan's eyes widened for a brief moment, totally caught off guard by such a strong reaction from his foe, since he was sure she would call him a liar, or just stupid like she always did. The silence was finally broken when Annie dropped her fork that she had planned to place down right before the hero's explosion.

After the metallic utensil hit the table, Stan's eyes narrowed to even smaller slits than they usually shaped. In a flash his chair was sent sliding back into the wall behind him as he stood up from the table as well. "That is it, you obnoxious Hero!" His yelling was even louder than Rosalyn's rant. "I've had it with you thinking you can run that mouth of yours and get away with it! Oh, you were safe before, when I didn't have my full powers; this was true. You were saved from a painful death at the World Library because we had someone more important to defeat! But now, now there is nothing that can stand in my way! I swear on my title as the Great Evil King, I, Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV, will not let you get away with this slander! I shall make your life a living hell in the name of revenge! You'll see! And I'll NEVER change your shadow! I guess I was being too generous when I decided to let you foolish humans have some peace before I began my hostile takeover!" He then changed into his shadow form, and began to slowly disappear into the room's shadows. "You'll see just how evil I really am! Just you wait, washbowl woman!"

There was another awkward silence after Stan left the boy's house, and all eyes that had been on Stan while he was yelling, went back to Rosalyn. The hero didn't seem threatened by the promise of revenge, and soon took her seat again. "He's just talking big, like always. Watch, tomorrow he'll forget all about it."

Another sound of metal hitting a plate, and a softer scraping of a chair being pushed back was heard. Ari stood up at the table, his green eyes as listless as they had ever looked before. "I'm not hungry anymore, can I be excused?"

It took a moment for Ari's mother to finally find her voice, "O-oh, yes, but you barely ate anything. Please have a few more bites of your mashed potatoes."

Ari shook his head, "They're cold." Without another word, the boy left the kitchen, and headed towards his room.

It was then, that Rosalyn realized that she had failed at trying to do a favor for Ari, and she felt terrible.

* * *

"Gee Rosalyn, why'd you have to upset Ari like that?" Marlene scolded as she braided Annie's hair. The three girls were having a slumber party in Ari's sister's room, deciding to give the boy a break after what happened during dinner.

Annie glanced at the woman she aspired to be like, and told her, "Boy, you really let Stan have it back there. But I think he deserved to hear that. You're sooo right! All he does here is annoy my brother, ruin Marlene's dates with him, and eats our food, and doesn't even compliment it! You'd think if he were evil he'd have his own foreboding castle, or mansion or even an apartment of his own. Stan isn't evil, he's just annoying."

"And selfish," Marlene added with distaste.

"Don't forget stupid, and ugly," Rosalyn ended the long line of insults about the Evil King.

"Actually, I kinda disagree with that last one," Annie admitted reluctantly. "You ever seen him with his shirt off?"

Rosalyn stared at the younger girl in horror. "Annie!"

The girl shrugged, "Well, have you? I gotta admit, even if he doesn't act evil, he's got the nicely sculpted body of an evil guy."

Marlene blushed a little, "I have to say that even I couldn't help but notice that when we went to the beach last summer. That is, until I saw Ari in his trunks."

"How can either of you say that so seriously?" Rosalyn was flabbergasted. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Oh c'mon Rosalyn!" whined Annie as she slapped her shoulder. "I saw you staring at him during the card game. You sooo had bedroom eyes!"

Rosalyn blushed, "W-what? What do you mean bedroom eyes? I was just so awestruck by how crazy looking he is!"

"Oh c'mon! You know what bedroom eyes are!" the boy's sister then whispered into Rosalyn's ear, "It's the look you give to a boy when you wanna do naughty stuff to him."

"Oh my god!" Rosalyn's face now paled. "I'd never, ever, EVER even picture myself doing, yuck, any kind of stuff with Stan!" The two girls giggled at Rosalyn's response. "What's so funny? I mean it!"

"I'm sorry, but it's the way you said that," Marlene finally said after she recovered from her giggle fit. "You sounded like a five-year-old who believes boys have cooties!"

Rosalyn groaned, "You guys should go to bed. I'm tired from dealing with that annoying shadow."

Annie opened her chest of draws and took out a book. "Here Rosalyn, I want you to read this. I think it might help you with your problems with Stan. Seriously, maybe if you two could get along for more than five seconds, you might notice how he's not so bad, when he's not being such a jerk."

Reluctantly, Rosalyn took the book from her, and read the title out loud, "Controlling Guys Made Easy? Annie, I think this isn't the right book for me. I need something like, How to Maim a Guy in Ten Ways. You wouldn't happen to have one like that, would you?"

"No, of course not!" Annie giggled, "If I did, do you think I'd be like, the most popular girl in Tenel? I think not!"

"Just read one page," Marlene coaxed, "it won't hurt to read one page."

Sighing in resignation, the hero cracked open the book and read the first line her eyes fell upon. "When the guy you want to control is acting like a jerk, the best way to make him more pleasant towards you is to give him a simple compliment. Don't lay it on thick, but make it nice, and flattering, and soon he'll be like a lost puppy who's decided he wants to live for the rest of his life with you." Her mouth curled down, as she closed the book with a swift slap, and placed it on the floor next to her. "Oh yeah, that's exactly what Stan's big ego needs, and extra burst of hot air. Maybe then his head will explode."

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it girl," Annie replied, before she snuggled under her bedcovers. Marlene decided that she was tired too, and got into her sleeping bag without another word about Rosalyn and Stan's relationship.

Rolling her eyes, Rosalyn then got into her own sleeping bag, and made one last comment before Annie turned off the light. "I want to kill Stan, not manipulate him." The mental image of Stan panting like a dog came to her mind, and she shuttered.

* * *

It wasn't until late that night that Stan would return to his real home; Gohma Manor. The forgotten abode of the Evil King Gohma was built on the hills several miles away from Tenel. Its long dark halls that were dimly lighted with wax dripping candles was the perfect place for Stan to call home. And luckily for him, while Stan was out ridding the world of all the fake Evil Kings, James hadn't been wasting all his time with the mysterious woman, Natasha, and managed to have the manor cleaned up and set up to be livable by the time he was ready to move in.

James had been busy reading a good smutty romance novel in the study he had set up for Stan when his master came storming into the room. Glancing away from the book, he then stood up and greeted him with proper respect. "Good evening Master Stan, I was wondering when you'd return home." He bowed, then noticed the look on Stan's face, and knew that something was troubling him. "Master Stan, you look troubled. Please, tell James what is the matter? You know I live to serve you in any way I can."

"Then get me the incantation to an Anti-Hero spell or something!" Stan shouted, about to rant about how Rosalyn once again insulted him. Then he caught sight of the book in James' hand. "And just what the hell is that you're reading? For god's sake man, its cover is pink! What kind of evil butler reads from a pink book?"

James looked at the book in his hands, "Oh you mean this?" he questioned. "It's a real bodice ripper, or at least that's what Natasha told me. She recommended that I read it. I must say; it is quite amusing what human women find romantic."

"Well burn it! I hate pink right now! Pink books, pink shadows, pink parasols! All of those things can rot in hell!" Stan began to wave his arms about predictably as he vented.

The ghost in the tux was use to seeing his master in a fit of rage, and didn't look effected as he watched him flail his arms about and even knock over a stack of books he was trying to alphabetize. "I figure that you've had a run in with the hero woman again then?" Stan gave a grunt to confirm James' suspicion. "Well, I may not have a spell, but the other day I did come across this strange potions book in this study." Walking over to the other bookshelf, he then plucked out an old looking book, and opened it. As he turned the page, he continued to explain, "Inside this book, I found a most peculiar potion recipe. Ah-ha, here it is Master!"

Stan took the book from James and began to read the left page, when he noticed that it was the end page of another recipe, he then looked on the right page, and read the name of the potion out loud. "Out of Character Potion. Hmm…intriguing…" The Evil King took a seat in one of the overstuffed regal looking chairs placed in the room, and continued to read with a fascinated grin. "This potion will effect the one who consumes it by making them act in ways that would normally be the opposite of who they really are. Effects will only last for a ten hour period, and side effects may include, random comments, hyper-active behavior, and even overly affectionate acts towards someone said person normally hates." Closing the book, but leaving his left index finger in the page where the potion James found was, the Evil King began to laugh in a purely evil way. "By god James! I think I have it! The perfect way to get my revenge on that big mouthed hero woman! I'll give her this potion at the reunion party they're all planning to hold soon! She'll act like a complete fool in front of everyone there who knows her personally, and maybe even, hit on me! Hee hee hee hee, of course I'll rebuff her advances, but when she hears about what she did the next day from everyone else, she'll never be able to live it down!"

"Oh Master Stan!" James gushed, "What a most wicked plot you have schemed! You truly are the greatest of all Evil Kings!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes James!" Stan agreed with a triumphant laugh, "And it is a glorious thing to be such an Evil King! Nobody can top me when it comes to being as evil as I, The Shadow Evil King Stan! Nobody!" Handing the book back to James, he then stopped gloating, and began to instruct. "Now, make sure you get all these ingredients it says to prepare, and make sure it is all done before I leave for the party!"

James took the book with a bow, "Of course, I shall get to work on this immediately!"

* * *

Well that's the first chapter of Crossing the Line! And btw, the book that Annie has Rosalyn read is actually the same book she told Ari their mom gave her in the beginning of the game. I did my best to keep everyone as IC as I could. I'm sure some might think Ari is a little OOC, but I think he would have changed a little over the past year after the events of Okage. Plus, you all know Ari was thinking most of the sarcastic remarks that you got the option of choosing in the game!

I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter and are looking forward to reading the next one. Chapter two will have more of the gang appearing, such as Linda, Epros, Big Bull, and Professor Kisling! (I know you're all dying to see him lol) And just how effective will this Out of Character Potion be on Rosalyn? O.O hmmm guess we'll have to find now next time! Please Read and Review! Again, I am open to praise and constructive criticism! And if I've made mistakes, please point out where they are so I can fix them.

LaterZ,

Sydney Daimao


	2. II: What’s Wrong with Rosalyn?

Disclaimer: I do not own Okage Shadow King characters or storyline; I just own the PS2 game.

Author's Notes: Wow, I've updated a lot faster than I'm known to update. I was trying to update this awhile ago, but I ran into some issues and stuff. I'd like to thank Raptured-Night and Marissa for helping me proof read through this.

Warning: This chapter contains Rosalyn acting out of character because of consumption of OOC Potion. I am portaying her like this on purpose, but it's not permanent. BTW, the whole OOC potion thing IS A JOKE on how HORRIBLY characters in fanfiction can be portrayed.

And with that note, please enjoy chapter 2 :D

* * *

Chapter Two: What's Wrong with Rosalyn?

The next morning was actually the day of the party, and while Ari was out with Marlene on their picnic, Ari's family hurried to get the Tenel Circus Grounds prepared for the reunion bash. Luckily for them, they were not alone, because the Ringmaster, Rosalyn, Epros, Linda, Professor Kisling, and Big Bull were there early to help as well.

"It was assumed by me that Stan would be here," Epros commented as he helped Rosalyn hang a banner over the Circus tent's entrance. "But to aid us is not his intention I fear."

"Stan? Help us with party preparations?" Rosalyn scoffed, "His idea of help would probably be criticizing everyone while he sat in a chair doing nothing but drinking up all the punch."

The phantom chuckled, "Such actions t'would be a thing, to be done by our Evil King."

"Um, according to my sight's calculations, the aesthetic hanging of the banner is a little off," Kisling interrupted, as he tilted his head slightly from where he stood on the ground. "So when I do the simple math of dividing the hypotenuse of pi…"

Rosalyn and Epros exchanged confused looks before asking in unison, "Huh?"

Kisling then remembered that these two were not on the same intellectual level as him, and sighed. "Epros needs to move his corner a little higher to make it even."

Epros nodded and levitated a little higher with his side of the banner in hand until Kisling gave him a thumbs-up.

Big Bull came by carrying a box, which most likely had party supplies in it, and grinned. "Hey, that looks great!" Epros took a bow in midair, while Rosalyn began to climb down from the ladder. "Hey sis, where's Stan?"

"Why is it that everyone thinks I'd know where he is?" the hero complained once her feet touched the ground.

"'Cause you just seem to know where he'd be, after Ari," the fitness enthusiast replied.

"Perhaps he's with Ari?" Kisling suggested. "Studies of his past behavior would link him to the boy."

Rosalyn groaned, "Can everyone forget about that idiot and focus on setting up for the party? We should be grateful Stan isn't here. He'd only be in the way."

Ari's Mom happened to walk buy carrying a stack of paper plates, and remembered something. "Oh dear, that's right, I forgot to tell Stanley that the party would be today. Oh well, I'm sure he'll figure it out once he notices nobody's at our house."

Which is exactly what Stan would soon find out.

* * *

Stan had finished searching through Ari's entire house before he slid underneath the door with his large yellow eyes slanted in frustration. "Damn it, where did everyone go?" Scratching the side of his head with his shadow finger, he continued to talk to himself. "Perhaps they took heed in my threats yesterday and packed up quickly then fled their house in order to escape my wrath?"

Whatever wishful thinking Stan could come up with next was utterly destroyed when he saw Annie skipping up the stone steps with one of the many young boys who attempted to capture her heart. The girl gasped when she saw the shadow there in front of her house, obviously not expecting anyone to be there. "S-Stan? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing pre-party helping?"

He took some offense that she would expect a king to help commoners. "_Moi_? Help with a party…wait," he paused in realization. "You don't mean that reunion thing, do you?"

"Well of course I mean the reunion party!" Annie replied in a know-it-all tone. "What other party would I be talking about?"

"T-that was today?" Stan asked in astonishment.

"Uh, duh. Everyone's at the Circus grounds right now," the boy's sister continued to explain, sounding a bit peeved for some reason.

Stan was about to chastise her for giving him attitude, but then a thought came to him. "Wait, if the party's not here, then why are you here instead of helping there?"

Annie's eyes widened after being caught. "Uh…well…Mom sent me and Morris back to the house to get some…uh…stuff." It was now obvious that she was ditching to hang out with a boy at their empty house. The Evil King didn't have time to waste with the boy's little sister, and quickly materialized into the ground, heading back home. Annie ran forward to stand over where Stan had been a few moments ago and shouted after him, "Hey! Where are you going?"

* * *

Back at Gohma Manor, James was preparing the potion he and Stan schemed to make in the kitchen. The cauldron of bubbling brew sat over an open flame in the fireplace while James himself picked up where he last left off in his smut romance novel. Just as he was about to find the exact spot where he should start to read again, Stan appeared before him.

"JAMES!" He panicked, "That party is today! Right now practically! How much longer does that blasted Out of Character potion need? Please tell me it's finished now, and doesn't need half a month to make."

James gave a mental sigh and placed his book down again. "Calm down Master Stan, I just finished putting all the ingredients together. It just needs about another hour and a half to wickedly simmer to perfection."

"Can't you make it simmer faster?" Stan complained.

"Do not fear Master, I'm sure not many have arrived at this party just yet. Perhaps waiting longer would be a good thing," James reasoned. "After all, the more people there, the more people the Hero can act a fool in front of."

This reasoning began to calm the Evil King down, "You're right! Besides, it's best that I am fashionably late to a party. Shows how little those people really mean to me, and it also gives me a reason not to help them out. Da ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! They'll have to set up tables, and blow up balloons without my aid!"

"Yes, and they'll be breathless and hope that you would come by to add more air to their floating decorations!" James added to the mental imagery of how miserable the others would be without Stan's presence.

* * *

While everyone else at the Circus grounds were setting things up for the party, a certain horned teen idol chose to prepare for the afternoon's festivities in a different way. Linda and Epros both agreed to be the entertainment at the party, and she was excited to show everyone else how much her voice had improved since they parted ways. A stage had been set up on the right side of the tent. Rising up her trusty microphone towards her mouth, she began to do vocal exercises.

Big Bull placed down a box next to the stage and noticed Linda doing her vocal exercises and decided to take a mini break to watch her for awhile. Epros soon placed another box next to the one his old cohort put down, and noticed his distracted look. "My friend, why has thou stopped in the middle of thy task? We do not have the time to stand around and bask." When Big Bull did not respond, the phantom waved his hand in front of his face. "Thou seems to be in a trance. To what is the cause of this blank glance?" His crimson eyes then happened to go in the direction of Big Bull's, and a sigh escaped him.

It was then that Big Bull realized he was staring, and gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Oh, heh, sorry 'bout that. I couldn't help but listen to her. Linda's just got such a pretty voice."

"Indeed her singing to me would be sublime," Epros began to say in reply, "if I did not hear her sing as often as I speak in rhyme."

Suddenly Linda stood up on the stage, and broke out into a loud crescendo, that was amplified by her microphone. "AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAAAAAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU! OOOOH IIIIIIIII-" Linda's voice was cut off when she felt a hand clasp over her mouth to silence her. Then a smooth voice shushed her next to her ear.

"Keep thy song's volume to a that of mute. The point of this party is to be a surprise," Epros reminded her in a hushed tone, "The boy is not too far, so his hearing will be acute. The party would be ruined, if his suspicions would arise."

Once Epros removed his hand, Linda blushed. "I-I'm sorry. I just got a little carried away I guess."

The phantom sighed, and went to the box he placed down. After retrieving a bag of balloons and some string to tie them with, he handed them to Linda. "Instead of being tempted to burst into song, would thou be so kind as to use thy powerful lung? Blow these up, and see to it that they are decoratively hung?"

Linda's face lit up, "Sure thing!" She then scurried off to complete her task, humming all the way off stage.

Rosalyn just finished setting up the plastic utensils next to the paper plates with a satisfied sigh. "Well, I think we're making some real progress here. At this pace, we'll be finished in no time." She wasn't aware of a dark shadow appearing behind her as she spoke. "See guys? I told you we'd be able to get things done faster without that good-for-nothing Stan."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I decided to be fashionably late to this moronic party."

Golden eyes widened as Rosalyn turned to see Stan's shadow behind her. Linda, who had been blowing into a balloon, let it go, and as it flew away from her hand deflating, she gave a girlish squeal. "Stan! You're here! We were afraid you weren't coming."

"Hey, Stan's here!" Big Bull declared as the rest of the group gathered around to greet him.

Stan couldn't help but smirk at Rosalyn, while she looked annoyed that everyone clamored around him. "Hey guys, save the enthusiasm for when Ari gets here." Facing Stan after shooing everyone back to their tasks, she said to him, "Well, now that you are here, maybe you should actually make yourself useful…"

"Oh hey Stan!" Ari's father greeted as he walked by, "Great news everyone, aside from the balloons, all that's left to be done is getting Ari over here. So take a break everyone!"

Everyone cheered, and went off to find a place to sit down. As Stan tried to move as well, Rosalyn stopped him, "Wait, I need to talk to you Stan." When the shadow ignored her, she still tried to get her point across to him. "Look, last night I know we said some things that were really out of line. And I know it won't make the slightest difference if I said sorry." Still no reaction from Stan. "We've never gotten along before, and I know we're never going to, but just for today, do you think we could at least try to be somewhat civil? For Ari. Even you have to find some part of you wanting to do Ari this one little favor?" When Stan still didn't give her any sign of recognition for what she said, the hero finally threw up her arms. "Fine, forget I said anything. We'll just ignore each other. How about that?" She didn't stick around to hear his response, before she walked away to find a place to rest.

Another hour passed and Linda needed everyone else's help to blow up all the balloons in order to get the task done by noon. "Phew, well we're finally done!" Ari's father said as he wiped away some sweat from his brow and stepped back with the others to look at the area. Everyone beamed with pride at the decorations they set up, all except for Stan, who looked bored, and agitated.

"Where the hell is James with that potion?" he muttered under his breath, tapping one of his fingers on his folded arm.

As if he read his mind, a blaze of light formed, and James suddenly appeared behind everyone. "Master Stan! It's ready! The po-"

Stan quickly shushed his minion when everyone turned to look at the ghost butler. Nervously, Stan tried to cover up any suspicious thoughts. "Ah yes James, the party is ready for Ari. Ha ha ha! All thanks to my efforts!"

The group gave Stan a dry look, since he didn't do anything.

The Evil King gave a haughty laugh, "And now that it's ready, we should go get him, shouldn't we?"

"Uh, we should?" When Stan shot him a dirty look, the butler realized he shouldn't have questioned him. "Oh right! But of course!"

"Then we go to find Ari!" Stan declared, before disappearing into the ground yet again.

"Right-o sir!" James replied, and left the same way he came.

There was a long silence in the group after the two evil beings left. "Those two were like, acting funny," Linda pointed out.

"Yeah, they were," Rosalyn confirmed with a suspicious tone.

"Oh well, at least we won't have to worry about who goes to get Ari and Marlene," Ari's mother said optimistically.

Close by, Stan and James hid in some bushes, and the Evil King laughed, "Heh heh, those fools shouldn't suspect a thing!" Turning to James, he held out his hand, "Now, give me that potion!" When James handed him a vial the same length and width of a pencil, the shadow frowned. "What is this? This won't work at all! What is the meaning of such a small amount? That cauldron you used was huge! I should have a keg of Out of Character potion!"

"Master Stan, this potion I must warn you is very potent. Just that small amount I have given you is promised by the book to give you practically chaotic results," the Butler explained in a cautionary tone. "It instructs to place the potion into something liquid for the victim to consume."

"Alright, that should be easy enough. I'm sure I saw some punch somewhere." Transforming into his human form, he then placed the vial in the inside pocket of his blazer, since he couldn't hide it in his previous state. "Now, where was it that little brat of Belioune's said she and the slave would be having that picnic? Ah yes, that 'special place'."

James bowed, "I shall see you later tonight then Master. Good luck with your revenge!"

* * *

"I'm so glad we got to come out here on such a nice day Ari," Marlene grinned, after eating the rest of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The boy nodded, still eating his own half of sandwich. The girl's voice then grew a little softer. "Ari, what's wrong with you lately? I know you're quiet, and serious a lot of the times, but you've never been the type who actually complains about his cold mashed potatoes. Was it because of Stan and Rosalyn? Because you know those two will never stop fighting."

Swallowing, Ari replied, "It's not really about either one of those things. I guess it's just that…" Pausing to sort out his thoughts, he looked up at the clear sky. "I just miss adventure I guess."

"Adventure?" Marlene repeated.

"Yeah, I miss the action, the traveling," Ari began to smile a bit as he reminisced. "And I guess I missed everyone else we use to be with. Seeing Rosalyn again, and hearing her stories about traveling around made me realize that yesterday. And listening to them argue, even though it was annoying, also reminded me so much of the old days."

Marlene didn't like the way the conversation was going. "Ari, stop talking like that. You sound like you're an old man."

"Sorry," he apologized, "but I can't help it. I really would like to go on another adventure." Chuckling, he added, "Sometimes I even wish Stan would think of something to get me out of the house."

"If that's how you feel," the princess began, turning away from Ari so he wouldn't see the potential sadness in her eyes. "Then why don't you and Stan run off on some crazy new adventure?"

Ari looked away from the sky to his love interest, and reached out to take her hand into his. "Because that would mean I wouldn't get to see you every day."

Marlene turned to face Ari again, and noticed that he was getting closer to her. "Ari…" she murmured, before she leaned in the rest of the way to join her lips with the boy's. Though this wasn't their first kiss, it still never ceased to amaze either one of the warm tingling sensations they felt when they did.

Just as Ari was about to make a bold move of resting his free hand on Marlene's shoulder, he heard a familiar throat being cleared, and the sinister voice of Stan say, "I guess I've interrupted something yet again."

The boy was surprised when Marlene made an irritated growl, and he quickly muttered, "At least he ruined the mood after we kissed."

Walking towards them, Stan ordered Ari immediately, "Get off your butt, slave. The Ringmaster wants you over at the Circus grounds."

"Can't it wait?" Ari glared slightly. "I'm kind of busy."

"You can kiss that girl all you want later," Stan replied. "Besides, Ringmaster said it was something important, but when I asked what about, he said it was a _**surprise**_."

Upon hearing the obvious emphasis on the word "surprise", Marlene realized that Stan wasn't interrupting their date just to be a jerk. "Well, I guess we shouldn't keep him waiting then." Taking a surprised Ari by the hand, she then began to drag him literally towards the Circus.

When Ari and Marlene made it to the Circus with Stan in toe, the boy was caught off guard by the sight of his old friends, and his family jumping out of their hiding spots shouting out, "SURPRISE ARI!"

Large green eyes blinked several times, before he happened to look up at the banner hung over the circus tent. "Reunion party?" The boy soon found himself being pulled by his arm and being lead through the small crowd.

Marlene stood alone and watched as Ari's face lit up a bit when he spoke to each of his old teammates. "Ah, they grow up fast, don't they?" she heard Stan ask behind her, pretending to wipe away an invisible tear. When her red eyes gave him a dark glare, the Evil King looked offended. "What?"

"Don't you ever take Ari away from home and go on some crazy adventure," she warned, before she left to be with her boyfriend.

Stan looked confused for a moment, "Where'd that come from?" Shaking it off, he then got into a serious mindset. "Now's not the time to be wondering why creepy little girls say weird things! I have to find that washbowl woman, and give her this potion." Of course it didn't take him too long to find Rosalyn, but the problem was that she wasn't alone. If others saw him give her potion-filled punch, they might be able to link her odd behavior with his own odd behavior of giving her something to drink, and that would just ruin his whole prank. Leaning against a table, Stan folded his arms and watched as Rosalyn interacted with everyone else. "I'll just wait until she's alone, or goes to that table with all the food. She's bound to get hungry soon."

* * *

Two hours later…

Linda giggled at a joke someone told, and looked behind her after noticing that Stan was alone. "Hey, I wonder why Stan's there all by himself."

Professor Kisling nodded, "Yes, he looks…rather…"

"Pissed?" Big Bull finished. "He keeps tapping his fingers on that table he's leaning on."

"We should go cheer him up!" Linda suggested with a smile. "Maybe he feels left out because Ari's getting so much attention."

"I dunno," the wary Bull replied, "he looks kinda like he doesn't want to be bothered."

"Linda," Epros called from a few feet away. "The time has come that you've waited for all day long. Tis time for you to fill the air with your melodic song."

Linda quickly forgot about Stan the moment Epros called her name, as usual. "Oh yay! I'm coming!"

While everyone gathered around the stage to watch Linda perform, Stan growled in irritation. "Gah! How can that woman have such big thighs if she never eats!" Pounding his fist on the table to let out some of his frustration several times he began a mantra of, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid woman! Of all the times she decides to go on a diet!" When Stan had almost lost all hope – and almost pounded a new hole into the wooden table – he caught a glimpse of a lone figure at the food table. It was Rosalyn. One would have found it amazing to see how quickly the Evil King could change his death glare into a bright – yet devious – smile. "Finally! I knew she'd get hungry eventually! Heh heh heh…my plans are so close to completion I can taste its sweetness already."

Trying to be as casual as he could, he slowly began to walk towards where Rosalyn stood. Coming up beside her, he noticed she was eating a piece of cake, and he had to suppress the joke he thought of, and the urge to chuckle. Whistling an innocent tune, he continued to walk around the table until he reached the punch bowl. As Stan filled a plastic cup with punch, he spared a glance at his victim. She now seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder, and kept her eyes on Linda who was just now thanking everyone for coming. Turning his back to her, he pulled out the vial from his blazer, tugging the cork out with his mouth. It made a soft pop, but everyone's cheering for Linda's first song drowned it out.

The hero had been enjoying her night so far, and it was nice to see Ari look like he was enjoying himself too. Watching as he swayed to the melody of Linda's song while holding Marlene's hand, she couldn't help but give the smallest hint of a smile. She snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed Stan in her line of vision, and realized the reason why she had been having such a nice time was because he wasn't around to spoil it; until now. Remembering how he snubbed her before, she decided to do the same, and instead of acknowledging his presence, Rosalyn used her fork to stab at a piece of cake, and put the piece into her mouth.

"You know, you really shouldn't be stuffing your face with such rich cake," Stan's voice suddenly whispered into her left ear. Rosalyn shuttered in response to the soft tickling in her ear, swallowing her mouthful of cake hard. When she turned to tell him off he then held up a cup of punch, and finished what he was saying. "At least not without something to wash it down with."

Looking from the cup to the smirk on Stan's face, she realized he wasn't insulting her, but the curve of his lips would say otherwise. "I can get my own punch thank you."

"Yes you could, but why do something when someone else has already done it for you?" he asked still grinning, holding the cup in his hand closer to her; urging her to take it.

"No thanks, I actually don't like to mix punch with cake." Rosalyn moved to join everyone else, but Stan moved in front of her.

"You know, you don't act like you want to get along, like you mentioned before," he complained, sounding offended that she wouldn't take his offering. "Humph, but then again, I should expect that from a hero. Now who's the one who's all talk and no action?"

'Was he actually listening to what I was telling him before?' Rosalyn thought in astonishment. 'He couldn't…no, something's got to be up!' Then her more optimistic side thought, 'Well what if he's actually making an effort to be nice? It must be harder on him than you, since he's evil and all. Maybe being with Ari made an impact on him. At least give him a chance. Besides, it's only a glass of punch. It's not like it's poison!' Then the more pessimistic side fired back mentally, 'What if it is filled with poison?' To this, optimism replied, 'It's not his style.'

Stan watched Rosalyn's facial expression change little by little while in her own internal struggle, and turned his back on her. 'Damn, she's suspicious! What am I going to do if she doesn't drink it? Then I'll just have to make her!'

Just as he turned to order her to take the cup of punch, he felt a soft hand overlap his own, and take it from him. For a brief moment he felt utterly frozen as Rosalyn gave him a smile as she told him, "You're right."

"Eh?" Stan's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"I said that you're right," she repeated. "I should take my own advice. I never expected you to listen to what I had to say."

Clearing his throat to try and regain his composure, Stan replied, "Yes well you shouldn't have assumed that I wasn't listening in the first place." He avoided her gaze to hide the fact that he was still surprised that she was cooperating with him so easily. "These ears aren't just for decoration." A soft womanly chuckle made his eyes widen again, and this time it was Stan's turn to swallow hard. 'W-why do I suddenly feel uncomfortable? It must be because I'm not being myself while trying to trick her.'

Rosalyn couldn't help but chuckle again when she watched Stan's stance shift again, and he hooked his index finger inside the collar of his blazer to let in some air. It was perfect spring weather that afternoon, and there was no way he could feel overheated, even while wearing all black. "Perhaps you need this punch more than I do?" she teased.

"I'm fine!" he snapped, giving her a frown. "As for you, you seem parched. So drink that stupid fruity concoction, before you die of dehydration. That would be a silly thing for a hero to die from, when you should die by my own hands."

Rosalyn decided to humor Stan instead of trying to make him feel more uncomfortable. 'See, I knew being nice wasn't easy for him,' she thought to herself in a more pleased way. When she brought the cup to her lips, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Stan was beginning to watch her closely. It was strange, but she chose to ignore it, and downed the entire cup of punch, just so he'd finally leave her alone. Once she was done, she placed the empty plastic cup on the refreshment table, and smiled again at Stan. "Alright, there. I'm all hydrated now. Thanks to you." Then the aftertaste of the punch hit her, and her face scrunched a bit. "Hey…this punch. It tastes kind of…spicy?" Rosalyn missed the fear that flashed in Stan's eyes as she rubbed her throat. "That's strange, punch isn't suppose to taste spicy. Yet the back of my throat feels like it's burning." She gasped, and made Stan take a step back. "Oh my god…"

"W-what is it?" the Evil King asked hesitantly. 'Uh oh. Don't tell me she knows what I've done! How could she? This was a most perfectly evil plan!'

"I can't believe Ringmaster would spike the punch!" Rosalyn groaned, as she stomped off to go find him. "I figured he might sneak in some alcohol, but I wouldn't have guessed that he'd go that far!" After she was a few feet away, she called over her shoulder, "Thanks for the punch anyways!"

As the hero walked away from him, Stan chuckled wickedly. "Oh, you're quite welcome," he whispered to himself. "In fact, I should be the one thanking you."

Rosalyn confronted the Ringmaster after finding him inside of the big tent. Marching up to him, she started to speak in a firm tone of voice, "Now listen here, we all understand you like your alcohol but…" Rosalyn stopped in the middle of her sentence, suddenly feeling very strange.

The confused Ringmaster turned to look at her, "Miss? Are you alright?"

Holding her head, the hero replied, "I…feel…" she began, but then her demeanor changed. The strange twisting she felt in her stomach and head ceased, but she still felt different. A moment ago she was ready to complain, but now it was gone. In it's place, she felt restless, and impulsive. The party was boring; everyone was just talking, and watching Linda sing. Linda's songs were all the same, all cute and happy, with an uplifting beat. Rosalyn felt like something had to be done to shake up things, and that she would have to be the one to bring the life into the party.

"Miss?" Ringmaster repeated, "You alright?" His confusion only increased when the hero left the tent without a word. "Wonder what that was about," he said to himself, before taking a swig from his flask.

Once she stepped out of the tent, Rosalyn heard everyone cheer for Linda after she finished her song. The bubbly girl smiled and bowed for the small crowd. "Oh thank you, thank you. You're all like, such a wonderful crowd! Now we get to see Epros do some totally neat tricks!" Loud clapping rose up and Epros stepped onto the stage next to Linda and took a bow himself.

Just as the phantom was about to open his mouth to begin his act, Rosalyn shouted, "Hold it, I have something I'd like to say before this party gets anymore predictably boring."

The entertainers exchanged worried glances as Rosalyn made her way to the stage. Linda took offense when Rosalyn snatched her beloved microphone from her hands. "Hey! That's mine Rosalyn!"

"Oh don't whine," Rosalyn replied as she shooed the girl with her hand. "You sound even dumber when you do." Linda's mouth dropped, and it made Rosalyn's lip curl. That felt good to say. Facing the other partygoers, she then began to use the microphone she took. "You know, I don't see what you all like about Linda's songs, I mean, they're all the same generic sound." A small gasp rose from the crowd in response. Rosalyn shrugged, "What? How can you guys think she's so hot? Huh?"

The crowd of friends and family just stared at Rosalyn as if she had just lost her mind, and for all they knew, she could have. Some spared quizzical glances at each other to confirm if they were not the only ones thinking the hero was acting just a little off. Nobody exchanged any kind of verbal conversation, which created an awkward silence.

"Can't answer that one huh?" Rosalyn placed her hand on her hip as she looked down at everyone in contempt. "I didn't think so." Keeping the microphone in one hand, she then pulled back her coat and stuck out her leg. "Is it because she shows off some leg? Huh? They're just legs! There's nothing that great about them!"

Stan chuckled to himself as he watched the spectacle, and muttered, "Not when they're yours."

Rosalyn's public complaint continued when she began to berate another aspect of Linda. "And seriously, anyone can sing some light hearted song!" Inhaling sharply, the hero began to belt out, "I'm wishing on a staaaar, to follow where you aaaaaaaaarrre…" This song might have been a pretty one, however, when sung by Rosalyn, it sounded more like someone scratching glass.

Epros decided to intervene at this point, trying to resolve this odd situation as smoothly as he could. "Alright Rosalyn, that is enough, I plea. You must calm thyself, and just agree to disagree." Placing his hand on her shoulder, he then reached to take the microphone. "Please come to thy senses, and to Linda, say thou art sorry." Leaning in he whispered, "After all, this is not a day for heroes to lose their heads, but to brighten up the spirit of Ari." The phantom thought he was successful in calming down Rosalyn when she stopped singing, but he didn't feel free enough to let out a sigh of relief. This was because the hero kept staring into his eyes, and because of how she seemed to have lost her mind, Epros had a feeling this wasn't a good thing. It also didn't help that he managed to catch a glimpse of a pouting Linda not too far from them.

In a flash, Rosalyn tossed the microphone away from herself, which Linda managed to save from crashing onto the stage into pieces, and the blonde trickster soon found himself in an unexpected embrace. Epros' body went ramrod as Rosalyn held him and continued to stare into his now wide red eyes with an enamored look in her own. "Oh Epros, despite how lame your rhyming gets, you're still quite charming."

For once, the usually calm man could not keep his unease under control. "Could someone please assist me? Her hold is tight, and I cannot flee!"

"Get your hands off my Eppie!" Linda roared as she smacked the back of Rosalyn's head with her recovered microphone.

Rosalyn immediately let go of Epros, who quickly levitated to avoid the inevitable catfight. The hero drew her blade and pointed it at the teen idol. "You wanna piece of me, you one hit wonder?"

"One hit wonder!" Linda repeated, her adorable face now scrunched up in rage. "I'll totally kick your ass for being like, so rude!"

Ari shook his head as Big Bull and Kisling scurried up to the stage to hold back the two women from killing each other. While the men struggled with keeping their hold on them, Ari's emerald gaze turned behind him where he heard a familiar evil laugh. He watched as Stan held onto his stomach, finding the whole situation very amusing to say the least. It was especially comical to see the look on Rosalyn's face when she was struck with the microphone. And the come hither look she was giving Epros a moment ago was absolutely priceless! Stan didn't realize that the boy had approached him until he heard him say, "Well, I'm glad at least one person finds this amusing."

Stan looked down at his servant and couldn't help but continue grinning. "Oh c'mon boy, you know that was funny!" Ari just gave him his famous blank stare. "And why do you keep staring at me like that? That washbowl woman is the troublemaker, not me! I haven't even argued with her once today. Evil King's honor." Stan held up his left hand as he made this last statement.

Ari rolled his eyes and was about to make a retort about how Stan's word wasn't exactly something to depend on, when he heard Big Bull's desperate shout, "Ari! Could ya give us a hand? Rosalyn's outta control!" The boy turned just in time to see Rosalyn elbow the poor bull's nose, which set her free from the fitness enthusiast's iron grip.

At the same time, Linda managed to wriggle out of Kisling's hands, and was about to attack Rosalyn again with her microphone until the back of her head was struck by a very heavy book Kisling had with him. Linda would be knocked out for a good ten minutes, and after she fell, Kisling gave a thumbs-up to the boy. Big Bull once again tried to restrain Rosalyn to keep her from kicking the fallen teen idol. Rosalyn was held long enough for Kisling to hit her in the head with his book too. Once she was neutralized, many breathed a sigh of relief, and a peaceful silence filled the air. Or, at least it would have, if Stan hadn't begun laughing harder.

Marlene glared at the Evil King, and marched up to him, "And just what about this is so funny? Rosalyn just ruined the party!"

It wasn't easy, but Stan managed to get out between his fits of laughter, "E-everything about that was hilarious!"

Marlene did not seem to find it as amusing as Stan did, and was about to voice this opinion aloud before Epros came up to them and said, "Rosalyn's strange behavior has certainly caused many to raise a brow. What shall we do with the hero now? Just what is wrong with Rosalyn, our friend? If she awakens here, and continues acting strange, then I'm afraid our party shall come to a most tragic end."

Stan's laugher died down once he listened to Epros speak in rhyme; even a year later, it still irritated him to hear the phantom talk like that. "Oh it's not that bad. It's quite entertaining to see her like that."

"Speak for yourself, Stan," Epros replied, after he got a chill. "I do not wish to be within her reach, nor do I think it's wise for her to be near any other man."

"It's not wise to keep sis here at all," Big Bull complained as he wiped away some blood that was running down his nose. "She elbows hard!"

Kisling decided to make the little conversation circle complete by putting in his own two cents. "Yes, she seemed more temperamental than usual, and according to my data, she should not be menstruating for another two weeks. So that rules out Premenstrual Syndrome."

Everyone gave the scientist very disturbed looks, and said nothing for quite some time, but all of them were probably wondering how he would know that information. However, none of them wanted to ask, since surely he would inform them, and that would probably be more disturbing.

Marlene broke the silence by clearing her throat to gain everyone's attention. "Well Stan, since you seem to enjoy Rosalyn's disrupting behavior, maybe you should escort her somewhere else?"

"I will not!" Stan growled in annoyance. "I don't find it _**that**_ amusing! Take her somewhere else yourself."

"You're not doing anything at this party anyways, except taking up space," Marlene said coldly. "And, I'm pretty sure you did absolutely nothing to help this party either."

"He didn't," everyone else said in unison.

Stan glared at them all and muttered, "Tattle tales…"

* * *

Well, that was interesting wasn't it? And the psycho Rosalyn will continue on into perhaps half of chapter 3. Hope you guys are still enjoying this story, and I thank you for taking time to read this. Look forward to reading how Stan will cope with an OOC Rosalyn as he escorts her to an Inn in Madril. Oooo what chaos shall befall the Evil King? You'll just have to read to find out!

I would like to thank the following for reading and reviewing chapter one of Crossing the Line:

NeoKairi

The Great and Evil King Stan

Sailor Comet

Marissa

Spirit

Thank you, and I hope I get to hear from you all again, and that I gain some new readers who will send some reviews my way. Constructive criticism and praise is well received by me still.

LaterZ,

Sydney Daimao


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